Cliff Notes Christianity

Cliff Notes Christianity

A United States Marine recruiter stands before a high school assembly. He doesn't say anything although he's supposed to deliver a speech. Finally, while looking over the auditorium, he says, "The Marines are looking for a few good men. After looking ver this auditorium I see only a few. If you think you're one of them, see me later." Later came, and anxious students besieged him.

The Navy Seals--a crack military unit. After a brutal weeding out process, only a precious few elite make it. The Seals have a saying: "Your easiest day was yesterday."

These military units stand in stark contrast to a culture that whines for the easy. Easy success, easy money, easy health, and easy relationships. All without working at them. Books abound guaranteeing to make all of life easy, quick, and whatever you want instantaneous. Want to be a good manager? Step right up, get "The One Minute Manager." Don't want to plow through "Moby Dick?" Grab "Cliff's Notes," and you'll have Moby under your intellectual belt in no time. Painless. Want to be fit and trim: just a few minutes a day and the perfect body is yours!

A Cliff's Notes attitude has invaded Christianity. Read "Thirty Days to Understanding the Bible," and you've got it made. Microwave spirituality. Thirty seconds worth of prayer. Forget the long haul. Long hauls are long, that's the trouble with them.

Let's line it out clearly: salvation is free--the hymn writer was right--Jesus paid it all. There's no long haul to be saved. Salvation is free upon believing that Jesus died being your personal substitute, absorbing the entire penalty for you for you sin. Jesus rose from the dead three days later; work finished. His work rendered us savable. No U-Hauling it to heaven with a truckload of shiny deeds to show off. Salvation comes upon belief in Christ's finished work and physical resurrection (I Cor. 15:1-3).

God offers a 100% grace package for 100% salvation (Romans 4:4-5). All we have to offer God is our 100% need to which He offers 100% salvation based 100% on the work of Christ. A lock-in, grace-packaged product, all free upon believing.

However, Scripture teaches us that discipleship, following Christ, moving toward maturity in this faith of ours entails a long haul, a long haul of hardship and of sacrifice. Discipleship and salvation aren't the same thing. Discipleship is the elite corps of believers, each just as saved as the other, but discipleship is like being in the military (saved), and being in the Seals (discipleship). All Navy personnel are in the U. S. Navy (saved), but not all are Seals (discipleship). Not all saved people are disciples.

If you ever took a foreign language in school, you knew that your last test was always the easiest, because the next one built on the last and things accumulated in a hurry. In discipleship, your easiest day was yesterday. Discipleship involves a maturing process, and maturing is never an easy road (just ask any teenager). There's hardship to be endured in discipleship (II Tim. 2:3), there's the self-sacrifice of the athlete in training and in the race (I Cor. 9:24-27), there's the patience of the farmer (II Tim. 2). All this is not for salvation, but for reward, an inheritance in heaven.

Discipleship is what Jesus referred to when He spoke of grabbing a plow handle, plowing on, and not looking back. Discipleship is plowing on into eternity's harvest, not looking back.

The blood of thousands of Christian martyrs is a crimson stained billboard that says discipleship isn't easy. Discipleship involves faithfulness and sacrifice over the long haul, self-discipline over the long haul, praying over the long haul, and giving over the long haul.

We can find none of the Twelve who had it easy. John never had "Cliff's Notes to Discipleship" in his back pocket.

County Line Church stands on the verge of great opportunities of ministry--countless new neighbors, a high growth area of souls in need of God's grace, people without Christ who need Him more than they know.

There are plans to be made, facilities to be updated, people to be reached, people to be prayed over.

Dedicated people have put nearly 117 years of sweat on County Line Church's plow handle; we cannot fail to add ours to it.

Our easiest year at County Line Church was last year. Our easiest month was last month. Our easiest day was yesterday. But rest assured that in discipleship, our greatest days are all our tomorrows that'll run right into eternity!

Dr. Mike Halsey, Pastor County Line Church

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